COLLECTING PERSPECTIVE

Every scrap of paper is a possibility. Every piece of art needs a new perspective.

Accidental Landscape # 50

I collect scraps of paper that most people would discard. I save  the wax paper that I separate art pieces with while I press them flat, the newspaper I lay under a painting I'm working on, torn pieces of tissue paper, and old maps.  I keep them because I know they can be turned into collage art.

A Stack of papers with a blue theme

I am not the only collector, of course. Collages have been an important technique through the ages. The oldest examples come from China and Japan when calligraphers layered pieces of paper over a surface to add background to their text. Picasso, Matisse and Braque all used collage as a major part of their work.

Crystal Neubauer is a mixed media artist whose work I admire. Her collages remind me of art pieces by Kurt Schwitters and Hannah Hoch, both collage artists who used torn paper to create abstract paintings. I've been taking Neubauer's Facebook class for the last couple of weeks and find I have the same question with my mixed media pieces as I do with watercolor. When do I stop?

Before the class, I unearthed a stack of scrap paper that I've saved because I like their texture or subtlety. They are easy to put together as a collage grouping because their colors are similar. I tend to add pieces of old maps, music paper, and circles---common themes that appear in my mixed media work.

One of my stacks of scraps

Some pieces, like this one, start our vertically. I keep adding layers, but nothing clicks to tell me that I am finished. The design seemed unsettled and incomplete. I stop for the day and place my work-in-progress on the floor so that I can see it from a distance. Sometimes, distance is what I need to gain a new perspective on a piece. I take a photo and wait for tomorrow.

Longing Belonging

I walk back into my workroom the next day. I check on my photo library on my computer. I see once again that the photo is upside down. Because I am left handed, I click the button on my phone with my left hand, which makes them upside down on the computer. Seeing them from a different perspective made me realize that I needed to alter my design by switching from portrait to landscape orientation. With that small adjustment, this collage said, "I'm finished."

This next piece started vertically. I switched it to horizontal. The final rendition is upside down from the original.

Sometimes, a piece starts vertically, and will remain so. It feels pleasing to the eye. Sometimes, pieces, like these small collages, move from one position to another to find the way that suddenly connects them together. Sometimes pieces stay scattered around my workroom for a long time till that happens. That's why it hard to know when something is finished.

?

Which way works?

       

Not finished yet

Check out  the works of these two contemporary artists who lead workshops in their techniques:
Crystal Neubauer: https://crystalneubauer.com/home.html
Donna Watson:  http://www.donnawatsonart.com

Collage artists from the 20th Century:
Kurt Schwitter:  http://www.artnet.com/artists/kurt-schwitters/
Hannah Hoch:  https://www.moma.org/artists/2675#works



While we are still sheltering-in-place or have discovered the value of working at home, I recommend the following art instructors who offer classes on Facebook, Zoom or online:

Roxanne Stout:  https://www.roxanneevansstout.com  (collage artist)
Sheri Blaukopf:  https://shariblaukopf.com  (watercolor)
John Muir Laws:  https://johnmuirlaws.com/journaling-curriculum/  (nature journaling)